Phl to host AsPac gab on liver cancer

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is hosting the 3rd Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver Conference in Cebu City from Nov. 21 to 23, boosting efforts to address liver cancer which afflicts 600,000 individuals worldwide every year. 

With the concept HCC in 3D (Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Dimension, Direction, Decision), the conference is hosted by the Hepatology Society of the Philippines (HSP), in coordination with Philippine Society of Gastroenterology and Philippine Society of Digestive Endoscopy. 

According to HSP president Dr. Diana Alcantara-Payawal, the conference will be attended by medical professionals who are “interested in discussing and understanding the elements of liver cancer.” 

Fifty-three international experts will be speaking during the conference on various aspects of liver cancer and liver care. 

“The conference program will feature the highest quality content on liver cancer, from etiology to treatment options and future researches providing paradigms of leading practice,” said Payawal, who is also the overall chairperson of the organizing committee. 

Payawal said the forum will also offer a venue for extensive networking and exchanging of ideas which will strengthen the study of liver diseases in the Asia-Pacific region. 

A fact sheet showed that HCC, or liver cancer, is the “most common primary liver malignancy” and the eighth most common form of cancer worldwide.

Worldwide, liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh in women. 

In the Philippines, it is the third most common form of cancer among men and sixth among women.